eBay Boss Breaking Work Patterns

By the end of February, most of the employees at eBay’s San Jose headquarters will collect their possessions, wave a final goodbye to their landline telephones and change cubicles.

But what John Donahoe, president of one of eBay’s most important divisions, really wants is for his colleagues to change the way they work. “I’m a big fan of breaking patterns,” he said.

Donahoe, 46, is a deputy to eBay’s chief executive, Meg Whitman, 50, and, many people in the industry say, her likely successor when she steps down. In his two years as head of eBay Marketplaces — a division responsible for 70 percent of the company’s revenues and an even greater percentage of its profits — he has set out to change the company’s colors substantially.

Boss of eBay division makes way for growth